Cheryl Dutko of the Discovery Center in Binghamton wraps Demitri Sherman, 3, as a mummy.

Written by

Connie McKinney

Correspondent

Spooky Events on Halloween

• The Southern Tier Independence Center’s Haunted Halls of Horror is open from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday at the center located at 135 East Frederick St., Binghamton. Tickets cost $8 per person. For more details, visit www.hhh-stic.com/haunt.html. • The Kingsbury Cemetery Haunted House is open from 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Galleria of Shops, 100 victory Highway, Painted Post. Tickets range from $9 for a single online ticket to a $28 VIP pass. For details, visit www.kingsburycemetery.com. • Ithaca History Tours will offer tours at 6 p.m and 8 p.m. Thursday. Ticketsare $14 for adults and $6 for children 11-17. Those 10 and under are free. For details, visit www.Ithacahistorytours.com.

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Halloween is a time for treats and tricks: from local ghost stories to creative costumes and decorations to seriously spooky snacks.

Here are some ways to make the most of the year’s most delightfully ghoulish celebration:

Southern Tier haunts

Some residents of the former Binghamton Inebriate Asylum may still be roaming the grounds of the East Side campus. An unknown ghost may haunt Ithaca’s State Theatre. And female ghosts may still be wandering around Elmira College.

These are some of the numerous ghost stories set in the Southern Tier, according to Libby Tucker, a professor of English at Binghamton University and author of “Haunted Southern Tier” and “Haunted Halls: Ghostlore of American College Campuses.”

“It’s a great mystery — the question of whether after death spirits can come back to the places where they lived and the places that they loved,” she said. “Ghost stories raise that question.”

Construction at the former Binghamton asylum began back in 1858, according to Tucker. Now known as the Greater Binghamton Health Center, the facility has been targeted for closure next year by the New York State Office of Mental Health.

A building that once housed female patients had chicken wire placed around the balconies to keep the women from escaping. Some say that late at night, the chicken wire shakes as the women try to escape. One woman who escaped and fell to her death can still be heard screaming, Tucker said.

Some former employees have reported seeing a ghostly figure walking down an outside staircase late at night. Others have seen a light moving around the same staircase. A security guard once reported hearing a loud crash late at night When he investigated, nothing was out of place, Tucker said.

Ithaca stage ghosts

Two bodies were dug up when construction began at the State Street site of the present day State Theatre in Ithaca in 1915. Who they were remains a mystery. The building was originally built as a garage and was made into a theater in 1926, according to the History Center of Tompkins County.

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Objects have been known to move mysteriously, said Jessie Bonney-Burrill, who owns Ithaca History Tours and tells the story to tour participants.

“People tell me they would put something down in one spot, and it would move to a different place,” she said. “The faucet would turn on in the bathroom when there was no one there” during a show.

Doug Levine, the theater’s executive director, said he once saw stage lights swaying by themselves while he was alone in the theater. But ghost sightings have tapered off in the past 10 to 15 years, he said.

“Maybe it’s all the rock music that scared them away,” he said of the concerts the theater hosts.

Bonney-Burrill said many people who have gone on her tour have shared spooky theater stories.

“It’s fun to see history come alive, especially if you’re into spooky stories,” she said. “I just like sharing the stories and letting people decide what they want to think.”

Eerie Elmira campus

Ghosts may still be wandering the halls of Elmira College’s Cowles Hall and Tompkins Hall. Cowles Hall was built in 1855 when the college was founded while Tompkins Hall was built in 1928, said Mike Rogers, the college‘s chief of staff.

“There’s a lot of stories about paintings of house mothers that come to life” in Tompkins Hall, which is still used as a women’s dormitory, he said. “Legend has it that people have seen her apparition walking around.”

To his knowledge, no student has ever been so scared that she moved to another dorm, Rogers said. Tompkins Hall, with its hardwood floors and high ceilings, is so popular that a lottery is held each year to see who gets to live there.

Students have reported mysterious noises and sights at Cowles Hall over the years which is common on college campuses, Tucker said. Some details change but others stay the same.

“They’re going through this process of maturation and learning,” she said of students. “So the kind of stories that are told reflect the process.”

Rogers said he doesn’t think there’s any truth to the ghost stories.

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“It’s mostly fantasy, but I think it’s fueled by the setting of gothic-looking buildings,” he said. “It certainly is a setting that may set off the imagination.”

DIY costumes

There’s no need to break the bank when choosing a costume. Just look around your house, said Cheryl Dutko of the Discovery Center in Binghamton.

“You can wrap yourself up in tin foil and be a knight,” said Dutko, the center’s director of visitor services/special events coordinator. Use an empty plastic milk jug for the knight’s hat.

Or grab a roll of toilet paper and wrap your child as a mummy. Secure the toilet paper with tape so your mummy won’t unravel before leaving the house, Dutko said.

Or raid Dad’s closet, pick out a flannel shirt, grab a straw hat and go as a scarecrow, she said.

Blow up some purple balloons, pin them on your clothes and trick or treat as a bunch of grapes, she said.

Fairies can use nylon stockings to stretch over coat hangars and form wings, Dutko said. Slip on a pretty dress and wear dry leaves and plastic or real flowers in your hair.

Spooky decorations

Look around your house for objects that can be turned into scary decorations. Grab an empty glass jar, paint it orange and use black electrical tape or black marker to draw in a face. Then, put a candle inside and enjoy your jack-o-lantern jar, according to the Teacher’s Corner, a website for teachers.

Make your own ghosts by blowing up a balloon for the head and attaching it to a plastic water bottle. Then, cover with white cloth, and decorate the face, according to the Teacher’s Corner.

Or use an old sheet or white cheesecloth to make a ghosts, Dutko said. Add tombstones by using Styrofoam. Make a spider web by gathering twigs and weaving yarn or string around them. Or use a hula hoop and masking tape.

Beat hunger

Serve up some scary snacks such as chocolate jack o lanterns. Get some oranges and a pint or two of chocolate ice cream. Cut off the tops of the oranges, scoop out the insides, and carve a scary face. Fill the oranges with chocolate ice cream and enjoy, according to Education World, a website for teachers.

Or try “boo-tiful Jell-O cups.”Add ¾ cup of boiling water to one package of orange Jell-O in a large bowl. Stir in two cups of ice cubes. Remove any ice cubes which haven’t melted and add 1⁄3 cup of Cool Whip. Pour the mixture into four dessert bowls and refrigerate for a half hour. Then, add more Cool Whip to form ghosts, use chocolate chips for eyes, and enjoy, according to Kraft.

See more spooky Halloween treats on the Life Plus page.

Safety first

No matter what your child dresses up as, don’t send him or her out on an empty stomach, and don’t let them try any treat until they get home, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Don’t accept homemade treats. Check all candy before eating and throw away candy with tears in the wrappers, pin holes, discoloration or an unusual appearance. Remove any gum, peanuts or hard candies, which could pose a choking hazard for small children, the FDA advises.